The invention relates to the field of elastic warp knitted fabrics.
The prior art includes fabrics with basic plating construction or knit pattern produced on tricot machines and Raschel machines with two knitting bars moving in one direction. One problem with such fabrics is that the construction is unbalanced because the yarns both move in the same direction.
The prior art also includes four-bar knitting machines which are used for the production of Jacquard knitted fabrics.
It is also possible to produce an elastic knitted fabric in which the base construction contains an elastic yarn and at least one non-elastic yarn, running in opposite directions.
The abovementioned prior art provides fabrics which have differing degrees of elasticity in the two directions. Generally, there is increased elasticity in one direction, which we shall call lengthwise, and little or none in the other direction, which we shall call crosswise or transverse. The direction in which patterns for items of clothing are laid out on the fabric for cutting is therefore fixed. Furthermore the retentive capacity of the fabric is different in the different directions.
One aim of this application is to obtain a fabric with improved elasticity and retentive capacity in a crosswise direction. A further aim is to provide a fabric with high breathability. Another aim is to provide fabrics with a new aesthetic appearance.
The said aims have been achieved with the invention as expressed in the independent claims.
Further new and useful characteristics are contained in the dependent claims.
In other words, according to this invention a warp knitted fabric is produced on a tricot machine or four-bar Raschel machine using four threads, two of which are elastic and two are non-elastic; each thread is knitted in parallel (in plating) with a non-elastic thread. In variants of the invention, a fifth and a sixth thread may be added to the basic structure as explained above, these being so-called xe2x80x9cspecial effectxe2x80x9d threads worked on a fifth and sixth bar.
Elastomer yarn with a thread count of between 15 dtex and 210 dtex is preferably used as the elastic component while nylon or other non-elastic yarns with a thread count of between 15 dtex and 156 dtex are used as the non-elastic component.
The non-elastic yarn shall be referred to hereafter also as xe2x80x9crigid threadxe2x80x9d for simplicity of expression.
The invention achieves the aims set out above, producing knitted fabrics with a new aesthetic appearance and makes it possible to obtain excellent technical characteristics as regards the retentive and modelling capacity of the fabric. The retentive capacity of the fabric can be uniform in all directions, so that patterns no longer have to be laid out on the fabric in a set direction, thus permitting better use of the fabric.